Wire thread inserts are generally known in the state of the art. These wire thread inserts are inserted into bore holes with internal threads in order to reinforce these bore holes. This is necessary for example when a screw to be fastened is made of a harder material than the component in which the bore hole is arranged and thus relaxation effects must be compensated for in the component material. These wire thread inserts are wound such that they have a greater inner diameter than that of the thread to be formed later in the bore hole. Moreover, the coils of the cylindrical spirals of the wire thread insert in the axial direction are separated from each other similar to a spring. In a spring-pretensioned state, the wire thread insert is inserted into a threaded bore hole so that it fastens itself in the threaded bore hole due to its effort to expand itself again. Such wire thread inserts are known for example from international patent application WO 2005/124165 A1.
Furthermore, wire thread inserts are known, in whose cylindrical spirals neighboring coils lie next to each other, so that the inner wall of the cylindrical spiral already provides a standard thread. The individual coils of the cylindrical spiral are designed sharp-edged on the radial outer wall of the cylindrical spiral so that the cylindrical spiral has a self-cutting, cylindrical outer wall. In the case of wire thread inserts formed in this manner, which are for example disclosed in international patent application WO 2007/147196 A1, it is no longer required to insert the wire thread insert into a prefabricated thread of a bore hole. Rather the wire thread insert cuts itself into the inner wall of the bore hole and is fastened in the component in this manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,070 and EP 1 046 446 B1 describe methods in which wire thread inserts are positioned in a component mold in order to mold them into the component during component production. The components are made for example of metal or plastic.
The types of wire thread inserts described above as well as the different methods for their use in a component bore hole have the disadvantage that, in the course of use of the component opening with wire thread insert, it loosens in the component opening and no longer sufficiently supports the screw fastened in it or a similar fastening element. In the worst case, the fastening element is no longer held in the component opening and can no longer fulfill its function. As a consequence, an exchange of the component or an enlargement of the component opening and an insertion of a new wire thread insert as well as the use of a fastening element with an adjusted diameter are required. This is complicated and partially constructively impossible. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that such a retrofitting results in standstill times e.g. of a constantly used machine.
It is thus the object of the present invention to provide a moldable wire thread insert as well as a method for its production, which overcomes the disadvantages of the state of the art. Moreover, a method for producing a component with this molded wire thread insert should be provided.